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Commentary
Kruger elephant deaths: The question SANParks still hasn’t answered
By Adam Cruise - Daily Maverick The debate surrounding 951 elephant deaths in the Kruger National Park has largely become a discussion about conservation science. It should instead be a discussion about public accountability, the ethical limits of state authority over wildlife, and why every deliberate killing of a wild elephant demands individual justification. Howard Hendricks and Sam Ferreira are undoubtedly correct in observing that elephant management is among the most demanding responsibilities confronting conservation authorities. Few people with any familiarity with African...
The 951 dead elephants in the Kruger Park and a question everyone should be asking
By Adam Cruise - Daily Maverick The grudging release of previously undisclosed mortality data from the Kruger National Park offers a rare glimpse into how elephants are dying. But the numbers reveal something else: how little the public knows about the decisions made in managing one of the world’s most important elephant populations. For more than a century the African elephant has occupied a unique place in South Africa’s conservation imagination. It is our largest land mammal, a keystone species that shapes ecosystems, a major drawcard for tourism and perhaps the single most recognisable...
News
Elephant culling: Why Africa remains deeply divided over this issue
By Mariana Balt - SA People News Elephant culling divides opinion like few conservation issues. For some, it is a practical response to growing elephant populations in fenced reserves. For others,...
Conservation groups demand independent probe into deaths of 15 Amboseli elephants
By Capital FM NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 4 — Conservation organisations have called for an independent investigation into the deaths of fifteen elephants in Amboseli National Park, saying preliminary...
Poaching frustrates South Sudan’s wildlife conservation efforts
By Radio Tamazuj South Sudan’s wildlife authorities have warned that poaching and habitat destruction remain major threats to the country’s wildlife resources and called for stronger enforcement and...
Press releases
Lawsuit Launched After Trump Freezes Funds for Rhino, Elephant Anti-Poaching Patrols
By The Center for Biological Diversity Contact: Sarah Uhlemann, (206) 327-2344, suhlemann@biologicaldiversity.org Broad Range of International Conservation Projects Hit By Halt in U.S. Support WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity sent notice today of its intent to sue the...
Studies
Elephant barrier behaviours in response to conflict mitigation fences
By Dominique Gonçalves, Robert J. Smith, Helen M. K. O'Neill - The Society for...
Impacts of Human Development on Wildlife Use of Corridors in Botswana
By Tempe S. F. Adams, Keith Leggett, Michael J. Chase, Marlee A. Tucker -...
Energy flows reveal declining ecosystem functions by animals across Africa
By Ty Loft et al - Nature Abstract A key challenge for ecological science is...
Reports
Scientific Review of Botswana’s Elephant Hunting Programme
By Mike Chase and Scott Schlossberg - Elephants Without Borders (EWB) Summary 1. In 2019, Botswana ended a five-year moratorium on the hunting of African savanna elephants (Loxodonta africana). Here, we provide expert, outside review of the hunting programme and its scientific basis. Notably, we...
About
The Journal of African Elephants was created by a group of concerned journalists, biologists and conservationists, who, after years of tracking and documenting the catastrophic decline of Africa’s elephant populations, have recognised the urgent need for a dedicated English and French news and commentary space to enhance and increase global awareness of the plight of Africa’s savanna and forest elephants. Our Commentary service, in particular, are writers that focus on the need to provide awareness of Africa’s elephants and affected surrounding human communities from a distinctly African perspective that, for the most part, is lacking in the dominance of Western media.